The train was moving fast on track, almost empty in every car except for the one the Warriors were in.

They were all seated, sore, tired, hungry, no longer thirsty, but just angry and bummed out. Seulgi and Irene sat next to each other with little to no space between each other, right across from them sat no one. Peniel, Baekho and Yeri were sitting all next to one another, their heads against the wall as they talked and talked.

"Cyrus, man. He wanted to take over all the city," Yeri chuckled. "What crap that was."

"His plan was going to fail," Baekho chimed in as he shifted in his seat. "Did he really think that everyone would just cooperate with the other gangs and respond to HIS command?"

"Well, we know something for certain, his plan was proven wrong the first few seconds he proposed it," Peniel chuckled as well. "Someone killed him, someone who was holding the truce until that very same moment.”

Then they nodded and all kept quiet for a moment, looking at Joy and Wendy who were sleeping; Wendy seated up while Joy used her soft thighs as pillows to sleep in.

Seulgi had her leg up on her seat, her arm limp on top of it while Irene nuzzled against her shoulder and sighed deeply. They were tired, really tired. They were dirty, they probably didn't smell well, they were tired, they went through hell and back and god knows what else. The train makes a brief stop and the doors open, but they don't become tense as they were programmed to do since the start of the night. Instead, they just sigh. They wanted to go home now, and the train had to make those stops.

However, two couples get inside the train. They were dressed all elegant attire, white tux, expensive dresses and decorations. They chatter and laugh about how amazing prom was, how good the snacks were and how the music was amazing--all the number one hits!

Irene looks up at them and shifts in her seat, regaining her composure and sitting up right, looking at them as soon as they sit down across from them.

They seem very happy chatting--even if it was late at night and they should be in their home, sleeping with a proper roof above their head, a proper meal in their stomach and a clean conscience.

Seulgi and Irene stare at them, with their tired faces. Irene with the cut on her cheek, her dirty hands, her disheveled hair; Seulgi with her bruised face, her equally dirty hands and body, still slightly present sweat and darkness in her eyes.

The two couples finally notice them and they exchange looks, giving them a once over  Then another one. They had gotten completely quiet, only the sound of the train passing through to the next stop present. Not even the other warriors were talking.

For a moment, Irene tries to fix her hair before Seulgi stops her, bringing that hand down and looking at her. In that sheer silence, Irene looks at Seulgi, who in turn gives her a simple nod of her head--her face as serious as it's never been. This was the first time in a long time where Seulgi was finally communicating with her through her eyes.

She understood what it meant, she could not translate it into words, but it was a look that made her feel some sort of peace. It was hard to explain--even with the finest vocabulary--it was just something you had to experience for yourself. She nods back and gently places her head on Seulgi's shoulder again, finally letting go of that tenseness, just resting there. It was alright to be this way, it was all okay.

When the train stopped the couple before them cleared their throat, gathered their things and got out of the train, leaving the warriors by themselves once again.


Finally, the train had stopped in a familiar place, Stillwell Avenue, right where they needed to be.

Home.

The sun was making it out, the day was colder than the night, the breeze was perhaps stronger--as if to refresh the tired warriors.

The moment the door slid open the warriors walked out of the train, their energies depleted, but content that they had done the impossible and made it home. Everyone made it down the stairs, while Seulgi and Irene hung back, taking the advantage of being high up in that platform. Looking at their home, the houses, run down buildings… mundane as ever, but perhaps not as comforting as it was once. Well, it was never really comforting, as these streets were as dangerous as the streets they roamed hours ago.

They just stood next to one another and looked at the view of the neighbor before them. With a sigh, Seulgi speaks. "Is this what we fought all night to get back to?"

Irene nods, crossing her arms. "Tooth and nail."

"Yeah, maybe I should just take off."

Irene looked at the girl and gently prodded her with her elbow. "You know I like travelling, too."

"Oh really?" Seulgi chuckled. "Where have you gone to?"

"Nowhere, but I gotta start somewhere, no?" Irene cocked her eyebrow up, causing Seulgi to chuckle again before they started to go down the stairs. "C'mon, let's go with the others."

They finally walked through the familiar streets of Coney Island, heading towards the beach, passing by the Wonder Wheel and all the closed stores of Astroland. Merely reading the name of the corndog's place was making them hungry, but they couldn't even think about that now.

Right behind them was the black rumbling car, full of graffiti and full of hoodlums ready to rumble.

The pack all looked forward and marched their way through, but they knew very well that the car behind them was not from this neighborhood, let alone from the Island. It was from the Bronx, way up there, and it was there for a reason.

To hunt them down.

"Irene," Seulgi softly said.

"I know, just keep walking," the pale woman tiredly assured. "The moment we get to a corner we run like hell under the bridge."

Everyone gave a very discreet humming noise in approval, continuing to walk like no ones business. Finally, they had to go to the right, then if they ran fast enough they could get under the darkness of the bridge unnoticed.

Slowly but surely they walked confidently to that corner, the car still lagging behind them and watching over them, but the moment the Warriors were out of sight they all ran with the little energy they had from the power nap they took. But thankfully they all got under the bridge just in time before they could be seen, but they knew somehow it wasn't over.

"Everyone, grab whatever weapon you can grab," Irene commanded, watching all the warriors start to grab any loose pipe, stick of wood, piece of metal, broken bottle--anything. The only one not looking was Seulgi, who still had her bat, and Irene who had the switch blade in her pocket.

Everyone was busy on that, but Irene walked closer to where she could see the street, seeing the black car pull over right there. She stared it down, trying to get any semblance of who they were and what they were doing. Seulgi slowly came up behind and started to see as well. There were many people in that car, she could tell, not just four of them, but a handful.

Then, they started to hear the clanking of bottles being gently hit together. It was incessant, constant and they know who it came from. Whoever was inside that car was taunting them. Everyone was starting to assemble behind Irene and Seulgi, also listening in to this maddening sound.

As if it wasn't bizarre enough, a shrilling voice started to sing.

"Waaarrriioooooorrs~ Come out to plaaayyyyyy!"

They heard it loud and clear, but the guy doing it wasn't stopping. Each time he said it, he was saying it slightly louder, but sounding more and more high pitched and insane, he sounded more and more aggravated with each second. It was a strange taunting tactic, but it had gotten under their skin and made each hair of their body sway in disgust.

"WAARRRIOOOOORRRSSSS! COME OUT TO PLAAAAAYYYYYY!"

Irene could intuit that whoever was doing that had to be a psychopath of some sort, or just borderline crazy. "Everybody packed?"

Everyone nodded, gulping a little. "Yeah," Wendy said, her voice slightly shaky.

Irene nodded. "All of you stay behind me, I'm taking them out to the sand."

"What about you, you ready?" Seulgi asked, placing her bat over her shoulder.

Irene took out the switchblade and flicked it, the blade coming right out--clean and sharp. "Let's go," she said before walking out and putting the blade into her trouser's belt, making sure it would not fall out in any moment. The crew walked behind her as she bravely made her way to the sand, being greeted by the breathtaking sea and it's beautifully crafted waves.

If only they had more time to admire this.

They made it to the sand and had gotten themselves in position, just waiting patiently for the cowards to get out of their car and meet face to face.

When they finally appeared, they saw a bunch of dudes wearing black and their supposed leader was a petite man, unruly hair with a grey bandana. They saw this man back in Cyrus’ reunion, they were there.

Irene was keeping her eyes peeled as she watched them walk down to the sand, closer to where they were--close to the sea and the powerful waves.

Finally, this guy--whoever he was--stood apart from his crew, coming forth as the leader.

"Be careful," Joy said softly. "I don't trust 'em."

Irene nodded and walked forth, meeting face to face with him. "When we see the ocean we figured we're home," she took a quick look at the ocean before locking gazes with the man. "We're safe."

Luther laughed. "Well, you got it wrong, pal."

Irene discreetly looked up and down on her opponent and saw that behind his zipped down hoodie hid a very peculiar weapon...

A gun.

She did not panic, she was not scared. But she soon had the biggest hunch she has had as she remembered the fate of Cyrus that evening. A loud gunshot alerted everyone. No one in the reunion, at that moment, had a gun. Perhaps it was a stretch, but what were the chances.

So, with a slight hint of a smile, she asked the important question.

"Why'd ya waste Cyrus?"

The Warriors' eyes were peeled, looking at one another discreetly. They could tell that The Rogues behind Luther were also getting nervous, shifting in their weight a little bit.

Luther just smiled widely, his eyes not leaving Irene's. "No reason. I just like doing things like that."

Irene kept quiet, staring at his -eating grin.

"It was so fun to see your leader get tossed around by the Riffs," he laughed, snorting.

"Where's Joonhyung?" Irene said out, firmly and with her tone gravelly.

Luther just shrugged. "Last I saw him he was bathing in blood, you should've seen it!"

It just answered their questions, just like that without remorse, and fueled Irene's anger--everyone else's as well, but there was no one on earth that felt the death of Joonhyung more than Irene herself. She clenched her fist as tight as ever, but her other hand was relaxed and discreetly ready to reach behind her for the switchblade.

This man was a psycho, like many more roaming around the street.

This er here was responsible for the whole nightmare they had to go through to get back, he was responsible for all the heads busted during the meeting.

He was responsible for Joonhyung's death.

"Let's do it, me and you," Irene said soon after, her voice completely balanced.

"One on one?" Luther laughed, shrugging before nodding. "I take it," he said before pulling out his gun and slapping his other hand on it. "Boom, you're dead, Warrior. You and all your friends."

Irene was calm still, staring into that psycho's eyes. He couldn't even do a single movement without Irene noticing and instantly grabbing the knife.

In that split second everyone moved back and saw what was happening, getting prepared for the worst.

"AGH!"

The gun hit the sand instantly, Luther dropped to his knees and held his bleeding forearm tightly, whining in pain like a little .

Irene successfully threw the knife to his arm and it was buried partially into his skin, it was still there, but the didn't feel like taking it out.

"ing wimp," Seulgi chuckled under her breath.

Irene walked towards Luther and grabbed the knife, cleaning the blood out of it with his own unruly hair. Cold, with a scowl, as if to further humilliate the leader of the Rogues in front of his own people, who were frozen and wary of every movement. They outnumbered the Warriors certainly, but they knew that they didn’t just make it back by chance.

They were a force to be reckoned with.

"Riffs!"

"Yeah!" A huge mass of Gramercy Riffs shouted in response to their leader's battle cry, raising their weapons and fists briefly before pulling them down.

Everyone looked at them, especially as they all marched down to the sand and where The Rogues were. There were a lot more than what any of them could think, but they were completely silent and stealthy. It was intimidating, but Irene remained unfazed as she stared at the Riff's new leader--staring into his Sunglasses more or less.

"You're still looking for us?" Irene spoke out firmly, not showing hostility nor resistance.

The Riff's new leader looked down at Luther, shaking his head. "We found what we're looking for."

Irene nodded. "It's all yours, then. We're going home."

He nodded, looking at Irene and taking off his sunglasses and showing his almond-colored eyes, perhaps as a sign of deep respect or the likes, to show his apology and his admiration. This was a feat to be reckoned as well, to go down in history.  "You warriors are good... Real good."

"The best," Irene confidently said, tilting her chin up in pride, making the others feel just as proud, their energies replenished.

Only the Warriors could survive an ordeal of that magnitude, barely losing any members, except for the most important one. But they all knew it was going to happen one day, sooner or later did not matter, as long as they all stuck together through thick and thin--Irene was grateful for the experience in a way. It tested her as a leader, it tested her as a human, it tested her skills but most importantly...

It tested her friendship with Seulgi, her group and their loyalty.

"We'll handle the rest," the man said, the mob of people dressed in black opening a path for the Warriors to take their leave on.

Irene looked at their Warriors and signaled them to walk out, to which they did, exchanging a respectful look with the Riffs. The last two to walk out were Irene and Seulgi, walking close to one another. And the last thing they hard from that psychopath where his screams for help, as they went up the slight hill and back on track, ready to go to the pier and watch the sun rise together.

They were stronger from that hellish night, they were smarter, they were more respected. The future seemed bright for the warriors.

Seulgi and Irene stood right next to one another, leaning against the railing of the pier and thinking and pondering about what the future had in store for them. But instead of exchanging punches and grapples, they bandied words.

"So, what do we do now?" Seulgi said, turning around and giving her back to the sun as she stared at Irene.

"Rest," Irene laughed, ruffling her hair. "We kind of deserve the rest."

"Hell yeah, but I meant..." Seulgi trailed off, starting to get a lot closer to Irene, caressing her bare arm.

"You meant... us?" Irene's voice softened to a tender almost seductive tone. "What do you want us to do?"

The topless woman thought about it for a while, humming before she spoke again. "What do you say to some nice bed wrestling, hmm?"

"Need to blow off some steam healthily, huh?" Irene laughed softly, looking down at the other side of the beach, watching everyone play with the water and just bask in the beauty of the beach. She sighed contently for the first time in a while before she rubbed Seulgi's arm. "Come here, big girl, I think this actual kiss has been long overdue."

Seulgi chuckled. "No need to tell me twice, baby."

And with that, their lips met. Their kiss was slower this time, more passionate than ever before as their hands sensually roamed into one another's body with certain hunger but this time they were more calm and patient, ready to understand each other's body, to learn how it works, what they like, how to do it. Now, they had all the time in the world to do it, there was no rush.

Their kiss was in perfect rhythm for each other, the right amount of heat rising within their bodies before they pulled away--right before it got too hot for them. Sharing a genuine smile, they chuckled, sharing as well a tender and comforting hug.

For the first time, Irene felt in the arms of someone who would understand her, understand her thoughts and most importantly someone who would understand the ordeal they all just went through. This person was her best friend, her former rival, but forever the Warrior that bravely fought beside her against all the odds.

Maybe her future wasn't in the gang, maybe her future was a better one, but as long as it was with Seulgi, she was ready to embrace it and take the challenge. Together.